¿What it is and What it does?

Foundation and composition

The Latin American Network of Non-Governmental Organizations of Persons with Disabilities and their Families (RIADIS), is a network formed by disabled persons organizations from 19 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

It was founded in Caracas, Venezuela, in October 17, 2002 (First Conference). The Second Conference was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil in November, 2004, and the Third Conference was held in Panama between May-June 2007.

In the present, there are over 60 national organizations participating in RIADIS; their grass roots organizations include persons with physical, visual, hearing, deafblind and mental or psychosocial disabilities, and organizations of family members of persons with intellectual disabilities.  There are also some NGOs participating in RIADIS, as technical collaborators.  Latin American regional DPOs can also be members of RIADIS, after  the By-Laws were modified during the Third Conference.

Principles and goals

RIADIS' Constitution By-Laws define its principles as: solidarity, independence, justice, ethics and responsability, transparency, respect for human Diversity, and democracy.

RIADIS' main goal is to promote actions that will result in full respect of human rights, non discrimination and inclusive development, focused in a sustained improvement of the quality of living conditions of persons with disabilities and their families.

The network also promotes the creation and capacity building of national organization movements, as broad and inclusive as possible.

Structure     

The Conference is RIADIS' maximum hierarchy discussion and decision making organ. RIADIS' major policies and general guidelines are adopted by the Conference, which meets every two years and where all delegates from all member organization are full participants.

The Conference, through a process of election among its members, will designate its Board, which in turn, will do the same for its Executive Committee. The members of both organs will serve for a period of two years. They develop their work and functions through face-to-face and teleco meetings. RIADIS also has an Executive Director and various working teams to carry out its goals and plans of action.

Activities and actions

Since its birth, RIADIS has been involved in disseminating, communicating, training, researching and lobbying activities, aimed at promoting and advocating for disability rights.

RIADIS was deeply involved in the drafting process of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, both at the UN level, as well as at national, regional and international scenarios. It was one of the regional member organizations of the International Disability Caucus (IDC), which played a fundamental role during the successful negotiation process of the treaty.  It was also part of IDC's Steering Committee.

During this important process, RIADIS, together with the Inter-American Institute on Disability and Inclusive Development (IIDI), founding organization and technical collaborator for RIADIS, and Handicap International (HI), promoted "Project South". This successful Project had as its purpose to guarantee a greater number and more active participation of disability leaders from countries in the Global South, during the Convention process. This project mobilized 55 disability leaders, all persons with disabilities, from developping countries, mostly Latin Americans, to the decisive VII and

VIII Ad Hoc Committee meetings in New York, who, in turn, left a deep and constructive footprint.

Since the CRPD was adopted by the UN's General Assembly in December 13, 2006, RIADIS has implemented several actions to promote the signature and ratification by Latin American countries. In 2008, during an important promotion campaign, it implemented seven seminars about the treaty in the same number of countries in the region. These activities will continue in the next years. RIADIS also organized an international meeting in Sao Paulo, Brazil in the month of September 2008, with the purpose of promoting disability Rights in the Latin American and Caribbean region.

RIADIS has also been implementing several actions in relation to the Inter-American Convention on the Elimination of All forms of Discrimination Against Persons with Disabilities (Guatemala Convention, July 1999).  First, it's promoting the ratification of the treaty in those countries were this process is still pending, and from February to April, 2006, RIADIS organized a successful international campaign.  The purpose of such was aimed so that the OAS Secretary General comply with the treaty's mandate, convening the anti-discrimination Committee, which was finally done.  The first meeting was held in Panama City from February-March, 2007.

RIADIS has also been implementing actions to create public awareness about the living conditions of persons with disabilities aimed at generating government policies and actions from the international cooperation agencies that can improve these conditions.  Bearing this strategy in mind,

RIADIS promoted during the XII Summit of Ibero-American Heads of States and governments a proposal that was accepted, and 2004 was declared "The Ibero-American Year of the Disabled".

With a similar purpose, a proposal was made to the OAS for a declaration of a decade of the disabled.  This was a successful proposal, thanks to the influencing task carried out by the National Confederation of the Disabled of Peru (CONFENADIP) and Peru's Foreign Affairs Ministry. As a result, the OAS XXXVI General Assembly, held in the Dominican Republic in the month of June, 2006, declared "The American Decade for the Rights and Dignity of Persons with Disabilities 2006-2016".  It is important to point out that RIADIS made valuable imputs and proposals for the plan of action of this decade.

RIADIS' funding for its activities and the implementation of its actions is provided by International cooperation, by proposals with specific projects for the various activities, or general projects related to capacity building.

Communications and information

RIADIS has used the email list about disability and human Rights ("Discapacidad y derechos humanos") that was created by the IIDI, as a channel for exchange and debate. It also has its own RIADIS email list.

RIADIS publishes a monthly Newsletter "RIADIS in Action" that is distributed through the Internet in Spanish, English and Portuguese.